


A rose by name

by BrenanaBread



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, F/M, flower shop, flower shop au, hopeless dumbass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-06 12:43:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20507201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrenanaBread/pseuds/BrenanaBread
Summary: Adrien Agreste works at a flower shop and hopes to finally meet the pretty dark-haired woman who passes him everyday.





	A rose by name

“Do you have the chalk? I can’t find the chalk!”  
  
Adrien’s pulse thrums wildly as Alix waves her hand dismissively at him and makes the final touches on her arrangement, purple statice caught between her teeth as she concentrates.  
  
“It’s not on the counter or on the back of the board,” Adrien frantically turns over pots and kicks bags up off the ground to check beneath them. “Where is it?”  
  
She pulls the flowers out of her mouth and fits them into the vase, organizing the others around the bunch so it looks full and warm, a collection of purples, pinks, and greens.

“I don’t know, maybe check the backroom with all the art supplies?”  
  
He hits himself on the forehead. “God, I’m an idiot.”  
  
Alix rolls her eyes. “I’ve literally told you that everyday for the past two years, but sure, give God all the credit.”  
  
“But you say it so lovingly, how was I to know the truth?”  
  
She frowns, inspecting him with a quirked eyebrow. “Are all pretty boys this annoying or are you just special?”  
  
He jumps over a stack of vases on this way to the back and almost runs into the wall in his haste. “I’m one of a kind!” he calls over his shoulder.  
  
Adrien fumbles with the drawers in the back, mind still counting the seconds, knowing he would be late. Every cabinet in the back is old, taken off the street from some company trying to rid itself of rusting garbage. Each hinge squeaks and drawer protests as he checks through them frantically, not bothering to close them all the way in his haste.

He scrounges through several drawers of gardening gloves four employees could never conceivably go through, rows of ribbons and paints, rulers, protractors, and dull scissors stabbing his fingertips until he finally finds the drawer of chalks.  
  
He grabs the first one he lays eyes on, a light yellow color slightly dirty from the dust of the cabinet, and runs back into the shop, slamming the door behind him.  
  
“What name are you going to do?” Alix asks, kicking at his foot lightly when she walks past him to put the vase at the front of the counter and tie a ribbon around its neck.  
  
“A name,” he moans, dropping to his knees in front of the chalkboard dramatically. “I didn’t pick out a name!”

Alix briefly glances up to check the clock above the door and notices a young woman with dark hair and a bright orange-furred dog crossing to their side of the street a block away.  
  
“Well, you better do it fast,” she juts out her chin in the direction of the woman “Looks like she’s a couple minutes early this morning.”  
  
Adrien jumps at her words and his left hand goes to his hair and begins to pull.  
  
“Nuh-uh,” Alix tsks. “Now is not the time for a freakout, c’mon.”  
  
“What should I do? What should I do!”  
  
She walks over to him and rests her forearm on his head. “Two days ago was Deserae,” she supplies.  
  
“Maybe….um...maybe….?”  
  
“What about Charlotte?”  
  
He shakes his head. “We did that last week.” His eyes light up as an idea sparks in his mind. “Roselyn?” he looks to Alix for approval.  
  
“Yes! Good! Write it down, dummy!”  
  
The woman slowly passes in front of their store, carefully examining the succulents that line the entrance, but doesn’t make a move to come inside.  
  
Adrien drops the chalk and it breaks in half as it hits the ground, but he doesn’t notice. He shoves the door right up against the front entrance and skitters away to situate himself behind the counter and wait for the woman to see it.

He can tell the moment she does because she completely stops in her tracks to read his messy handwriting. He can follow her eyes as they trace over each word, “Come in for a free flower if your name is Roselyn!”, pausing on the name before she finally meets his eyes.  
  
He can’t help the dopey smile that spreads across his face when he sees her blush at getting caught.  
  
He gives her a small wave and almost swoons when she wiggles her fingers back at him, smiling at him with full force.

He’s about to melt into a puddle when a tug from the dog on her leash leads the woman away. She sends an apologetic grin over her shoulder and her blue eyes sparkle with mirth. He’s certain he’s never seen anything so beautiful.

As soon as she’s out of sight, the breath leaves him and he slouches over the counter, forearms supporting him.  
  
The bell above the door chimes as someone walks through it, but it’s still a minute before opening and he doesn’t need to look up to know who it is.  
  
“Wow, he doesn’t look pathetic at all.”

Sweet perfume passes over him as Chloé walks by, smacking the desk by his head on her way to Alix.

“I wish you’d seen him _ run _ to get to her, it was like someone lit him on fire.” Once she was close enough, Alix pulled Chloé towards herself, hand on her chin tilting her face up for brief kiss.  
  
“Trust me, I can imagine. He’s the definition of ridiculous.” Chloé steps back from her girlfriend to wipe an invisible stain off of her white pants. “Ugh, it’s so hot in here, I’m propping the door open.”

“I can hear you both, you know.”  
  
“We always do,” Alix quips.  
  
“That’s the idea, Adrikins.” Chloé kicks a doorstop into place with more force than strictly necessary. “Someone’s got to help you grow up, and I suppose it _ is _ a best friend’s duty.” She adjusts the sunglasses sitting on top of her head, fingering the wispy pieces of hair that frame her face. “No matter how tiring it is.”

Alix snorts and Adrien rolls his eyes.  
  
“It hasn’t worked yet,” he says.  
  
“What can I say? Politicians love a lost cause.”  
  
Adrien fakes a gasp. “What will your constituents think?”  
  
“Oh please,” Chloé flips her hair. “The only groups who loves a lost cause more than a politician are the people that vote for them.”

“Truly inspiring, can I get that on a tshirt?”  
  
“Only if you model it for my website. Oh wait, you don’t do that anymore.” Chloé walks back to the front desk and leans on it, looking down her nose at her friend. “You quit all that so you could play in the dirt all day and pine after some girl whose name you don’t even know.”  
  
“And who you haven’t even met.” Alix adds.  
  
“I have too!”  
  
“Making eye contact with her and tripping over your words when she passed by one morning doesn’t count. She’s never even come into the shop.”  
  
He slouches, the fight leaving him quickly. “I know.”

Chloé stops picking at her cardigan and straightens, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Wait, she hasn’t?”  
  
He doesn’t meet her gaze.  
  
“Oh Adrikins, please tell me you’re kidding. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”  
  
Alix cracks her knuckles and makes a fist. “I bet I could get her in here.”  
  
“Put that away,” Adrien groans.  
  
“No one’s doubting you, babe.” Chloé blows a kiss in her direction and Alix pretends to vomit. “But we’re not traumatizing her.”  
  
“Thank you!”  
  
“_Yet _ ,” she amends. “I’m not above a little revenge if she breaks your fragile heart.”  
  
“I am not fragile.”  
  
“Sure you’re not, love.” She pats him on the head sweetly. “Delicate, then.”  
  
“Dainty,” Alix adds, hopping off the table to join them.  
  
“Frail.”  
  
“Brittle.”  
  
“Okay, I get it!” He brushes off their hands and darts out from behind the counter. “Can we all just get back to work, please?”  
  
“We _ are _ working,” Alix stresses. “Working on making you into a functioning adult.”  
  
“I function just fine, thank you.”  
  
“It’s cute that you think so.”  
  
“If you’re really trying to make my life less ‘terribly sad’,” he finger quotes “then maybe help me brainstorm how to actually talk to her instead of telling me how useless I am.”  
  
“I would _ never _ call you useless,” Chloé scoffs.  
  
“You called me useless two days ago!”  
  
“That was different! You were being useless!” she turns to Alix for support. “He’s such a picky eater and so I ask him ‘where do you want to go for dinner?’ and he says ‘oh, I don’t mind’ and so I ask again and he says ‘really, I don’t mind’ and then when I pick a place, guess what? He minds!”

He shakes his head in contradiction, hair swishing into his eyes. “What she’s not telling you is she picked the one place she knew I wouldn’t want to go.”  
  
“Just because your ex-girlfriend works there doesn’t mean I can never enjoy _ Terra Mia _ again.”  
  
“You’re right! It doesn’t!” Adrien grabs a shallow box of neatly lined plants to bring to a window. “Just not with me.”

“You’re being unreasonable,” Chloé argues. “I’ll just make a reservation and ask to specifically get a different waitress.”  
  
Adrien cringes at her words, pulling on a set of thick, black gloves.  
  
“What? Is hearing her name going to make you spiral out of control? Fill you with a rage or sadness no one has ever known? Make all your hair fall out? Cause your boss to kick you in the nuts and steal your cat? It’s just a name, Adrien!”  
  
He glares at her and plops himself down on a stool facing the opposite direction, busying his hands with trimming a small cactus.

“Now look what you did, you hurt his feelings.” Alix elbows Chloé as she walks past her. “Now he’s gonna be all butthurt for the rest of the day.” She playfully nudges his shoulder, but when he shrugs her off of him, she knows he’s not okay.  
  
“He’ll get over it,” Chloé says, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder.  
  
Adrien grips the cactus tighter, knowing the gloves on his hands will only protect him so much.  
  
“You can’t insult the importance of names around him.”  
  
Chloé scoffs. “What does that even mean?”  
  
He grits his teeth as he snips the plant with more force.  
  
“That’s how he’s trying to get his mystery girl.” Alix smoothly grabs the plant from his hands, swatting at him when he protests. “I think you’ve done enough damage to poor Lorraine.”  
  
Adrien sighs, shoulders drooping and pruners dangling from his fingertips. “I’m being silly, aren’t I?”  
  
“Yes,” Chloé says firmly just as Alix tsks him.  
  
“Of course it’s not silly, Adrien,” she glares at her girlfriend. “Yes, maybe hoping to land on this mystery girl’s name so she’ll finally come into the shop and you can talk to her properly and charm her and fall in love and get married and have children is not the most efficient route,” she runs out of breath but holds up her hands to prevent either person from interrupting “but it’s not completely insane.”  
  
“It _ is _ completely insane,” Chloé chimes in, but Alix talks over her.  
  
“She just needs that little push to come in, and then I’m sure you two will really hit it off.”  
  
He hangs his head. “I’m not an idiot, y’know?” He grabs Alix’s hand and squeezes it lightly before dropping it again. “I’m aware this is ridiculous and putting way too much pressure on this girl I don’t even know. I know the odds of me actually guessing her name are so slim, and even then there’s no guarantee she’ll actually come in.” He shrugs. “But I just need something to get excited about again.”  
  
He stands up from the stool and faces his friends, trying to smile at them. “And I’m excited about her. I don’t know why, but I am.”  
  
“You’ve been through a lot,” Alix takes a step away from him, placing the cactus back down on its display case. “We’re here for you. I can’t say we’ll indulge your every whim,” she looks back at Chloé who rolls her eyes, “but we’ll do what we can.”  
  
“Here,” Chloé pulls out a small notebook from her purse and uncaps a pen. “How about this? We’ll brainstorm names. What have you done already?”  
  
He’s silent for a moment until Alix kicks at his sneaker.  
  
“Well, Roselyn today.”  
  
“Ridiculous name, but okay,” she doesn’t look up as she writes it down. “Next?”  
  
“Desarae,” Alix supplies. “Charlotte.”  
  
Adrien slowly walks towards Chloé, resting a palm on the table and peering over her shoulder. “Camille.”  
  
“Nadine.”  
  
“Ugh, she doesn’t even look like a Nadine, who’s bright idea was that?”  
  
Alix sticks her tongue out at her girlfriend. “We did one that ended in ‘ette’, right?” she asks Adrien. “Annette? Or Cosette? Something froofy like that.”  
  
“Alouette?” Chloé guesses, laughing to herself. “She does resemble a small bird.”  
  
“Marinette.”  
  
Adrien’s head snaps up and his mouth gapes when he sees the dark-haired woman awkwardly shuffling her feet in the doorway, leash curled around her body as her dog sniffs the corner of the shop.  
  
“Sorry,” she apologizes, pointing to the door. “You left this open, and I just happened to hear…”  
  
He scrambles over to her, body tilting forward so much he almost crashes into her.

He doesn’t know what to say, but he manages to finally close his mouth.

She clears her throat. “Marinette,” she says again. “You should try Marinette.”  
  
He still doesn’t know what to say, but he manages to squeak enough to let her know he understands.

The silence stretches on and both are rooted in their place, neither breaking eye contact or making a move to leave.  
  
Alix clears her throat to snap them out of their reverie. “We’ll do that first thing tomorrow.”  
  
Marinette’s lips quirk up the tiniest bit in the barest hint of a smile. “I guess I’ll see you then,” she says, turning away with one last look over her shoulder as her dog pulls her around the corner.  
  
“See you,” Adrien calls after her, taking a step in her direction before faltering and attempting to casually lean against the door frame.  
  
She’s already out of sight, but he isn’t ready to move. His body feels tingly and his heart is beating so quickly he’s not sure he can differentiate one _thu-thump_ from the next.  
  
“A little forward, isn’t she,” Chloé caps her pen and stuffs it back in her purse, getting up from her chair with indignation.  
  
Alix eyes him carefully, taking in the slight flush of his cheeks and wild look in his eyes. “Glad _someone_ can be.”  
  
Adrien never responds to their teasing, too deep in his own thoughts, dazed smile permanently overtaking his mouth.  
  
Alix hops over to him, waving a hand in front of his face and calling his name until he turns to her with a raised brow.  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“So, you’re feeling pretty good now, huh?” she rocks back and forth on her heels.  
  
His cheeks flush and he rubs the back of neck subconsciously, but the smile never strays. “You could say that.”  
  
“Bet I can ruin it.”  
  
He rests his hands inside his pockets, turning on his heel and tossing over his shoulder languidly, “I really don’t think you could.”  
  
She rolls her shirtsleeves up to her elbows and straightens her cap, calling out to him, “What kind of flower are you gonna give her?”  
  
Chloé’s raucous laughter is the last thing he hears as he runs into the back to frantically search for the perfect plant.

**Author's Note:**

> her dog's name is tikki, obviously
> 
> hang out with me on tumblr [jattendschaton.tumblr.com](https://jattendschaton.tumblr.com/)


End file.
